Hero Histories

Thursday, May 5, 2011

It's THORSday! All Hail MIGHTY THOR!

Inks by Chic Stone

To celebrate the Mighty Thor big-budget movie opening tomorrow and starring Chris Hemsworth and (yum) Natalie Portman, here's a selection of pix by co-creator Jack (King) Kirby with various inkers...

Inks by Dick Ayers

Inks by George Roussos aka George Bell

Inks by Joe Sinnott

Inks by Dick Ayers

Inks by Don Heck

Inks by Joe Sinnott

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Silver Age Green Hornet Comic Art

A few odds-and-ends from the Gold Key Green Hornet Silver Age comic.
The first two were the inside covers for #1, and were probably the proposal pieces submitted to the licensor for approval.

You'll note that the illustrations are of the characters in costumed form.
The next one is from the inside back cover of #3 showing the Hornet's equipment...

The Hornet Sting shown is the original version seen in the pilot and early promo photos.
The later version had a...focusing dish or somesuch on it...

But, the mask shown is the later, molded-to-the-face version, not the one used in the pilot episode and promo photos...

...which I think looks kooler and actually hides the wearer's identity better, but limited Van Williams' and Bruce Lee's peripheral vision, potentially making fight scenes hazardous.
BTW, all art was by Dan Spiegle.

Hope you've enjoyed reading them as much as I've enjoyed bringing them to you.
There's much more Golden Age Green Hornet stuff coming up in the Reading Room, so keep an eye on this blog!

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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Origin of the Golden Age Thor: God of Thunder

He's muscular, super-strong, has long blonde hair, uses a hammer named Mjolnir, and can control lightning, but he's NOT Don Blake!
Nor is he the real Thor!
Confused, True Believer!
Well, read on and all will be made clear...probably...

So, while Grant transforms into a Thor, the real Thor (with the mythologically-correct red hair and beard) sits comfortably back in Valhalla and watches the fun.
This version of Thor would run from Weird Comics #1 (this appearance) to #5, never once making the cover.
Interestingly, issue by issue, he lost elements of Thor's costume (including the helmet, cape, and long hair), until by his final appearance in #5, he just looked like Grant Farrel in a blue swimsuit!
After that, he disappeared until 2008, when he, and an assemblage of forgotten Golden Age heroes, popped up in Savage Dragon #141, in full "Thor" regalia.

We'll be posting the other four adventures of the first Thor over the next few weeks.

Watch for them.

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Monday, May 2, 2011

Reading Room: THE GREEN HORNET "The Counterplot Affair" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

Attempting to protect the boy prince of the oil-rich Mid-Eastern country of Bahratta from foreign spies, The Green Hornet and Kato discover the lad's uncle has arranged for the kid to be kidnapped.
Kato shadows the young king-to-be, and during a kidnapping attempt loses the boy, who escapes into the depths of the city's biggest park.
Now costumed and armed, the Hornet and Kato return to the park, only to run into the kidnappers...

Written by Paul S Newman and illustrated by Dan
The other tale from the final issue of the Silver Age Green Hornet's Gold Key run can be found HERE.
While lp albums and cassettes of his radio adventures continued to be released thru the 1970s and '80s, the Hornet and Kato wouldn't return to comics until the 1990s, when NOW Comics revived and revised the character, combining all the different incarnations into one big crime-fighting family!
Tomorrow, on the day of the 2011 Green Hornet film's release on DVD/Blu-Ray, we'll have a couple of rarely-seen Hornet goodies!

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